Nomenclature
by irite
Summary: As Natasha matures, so does her understanding of language. Sticks and stones may break her bones, but words can't hurt her, right? Or the five times Natasha Romanoff was called a name and it mattered.


**A huge thank you to my beta, dysprositos, for being awesome and a tremendous help with this. And for making the amazing cover pic.**

**WARNING: language.**

* * *

The first time Natasha Romanoff was called a heartless bitch, she spent thirty minutes in the bathroom, staring at her face in the mirror. _Was this the face of a 'heartless bitch'?_

Did she deserve the epithet? She hadn't done anything to the name-caller. She'd only been first in all of the training exercises all month. For this dubious distinction, she was allowed to pick her next assignment. The Red Room was very generous, no?

Natasha wanted to dance. She'd asked for an assignment as a ballerina, and was due to leave the next morning.

Was this really a name she deserved? Was she truly lacking all feelings? Incapable of empathy? She had only wanted to escape the beatings and derision that went along with being the worst in the class, but was being the best any better?

She didn't know then, and even now, she still doesn't know for sure.

* * *

The second time she is called a bitch, she is better prepared for it. The trainers at SHIELD mean no harm, she knows, they are just trying to build her up.

That doesn't stop her from spending time in front of the mirror that evening, however.

She thinks she's as normal as can be, under the circumstances. Her favorite color is red, and she's dying to dye her hair a vibrant hue of it one day.

She uses the spiciest toothpaste she can find because standing in the bathroom with foam running from the corners of her mouth, laughing at herself in the mirror, is one of the best parts of her day.

She _can_ still laugh at herself, even now. She has to hide this playful side, but it can never be extinguished, just tamped down.

She likes to wear dresses, prefers them to pants in the summer. In the winter, she gets cold, and she likes to wear pants tucked into long boots, with warm, often brightly colored knee socks under.

Natasha doesn't think that a true _bitch_ has any of these qualities, but what does she know? She's an assassin, a weapon. The people in charge point her in the right direction, and off she goes.

* * *

The third time she's called a bitch, she's expecting it. Clint Barton and she have been building up to a conflict for a long while, and it's no surprise to either of them that it would explode into violence.

She's unused to this 'custom' of hurling insults at your sparring partner, and she's a little off her game as they begin to circle each other on the mat. Russians are so much more stoic.

Clint wins.

This is the only match she will ever let him win, and they both know it.

He never calls her a bitch again, not even if their mission script calls for him to do so. He always finds a way to invent some other invective. She appreciates this.

That evening, however, she finds herself in front of the mirror yet again, posing rhetorical questions to her reflection.

* * *

The fourth time Natasha is called a bitch, it's a compliment. Tony Stark deals in four-letter words and false fronts. The man is the slipperiest she's ever seen, but he manages to come off as more sincere than Santa Claus.

His façade slips a little whenever Pepper's around, and it's in one of those brief lapses that Tony looks at her, really looks at her, and says, "Natalie, you're a stone cold bitch. I like you. If Pepper ever quits, you can have my company."

By the end of this little speech, his walls are already coming back up, and he ends on a joke, in true Tony Stark fashion.

Natasha looks at herself appreciatively in the mirror that evening. She could get used to this, she thinks.

* * *

The fifth time she is called a bitch, she doesn't give a fuck. Who the hell cares what motherfucking Loki says, anyway?

He had been locked in his little glass cell, practically begging for some entertainment, so Natasha took advantage of and opportunity for her to gather some information.

She sashays down to the containment chamber (after checking with Thor first, to make sure his brother swings her way), putting extra sway in her step.

She knows she looks damn good in this catsuit. It would almost be insulting for Loki to resist her many charms (oh, who the hell is she kidding, her ass and chest).

Loki can't, or doesn't, and either way she sees through his story, right to what his goal is. If he calls her a 'mewling quim' along the way, well, she's been called worse things than a 'pussy.'

When she reveals her purpose to him (because, yes, even master assassins like to gloat, if given the opportunity), he calls her a bitch. That is most definitely worse than 'pussy'.

After the battle is over, she is ostensibly in front of her mirror to check her injuries. Really, though, she's wondering what she did to be called a bitch in such a derisive tone.

* * *

She's been given the title of 'bitch' many times both during and after these, but those weren't really _her_, just aliases for a mission. Natalie Rushman is the singular one that is built on her, Natasha Romanoff. All of the others are laughable. One time, she was Candy Paradis. She burned all of Clint's James Bond books for that deplorable moniker.

Natasha Romanoff is a bitch, on the outside, but internally, she's really just a normal woman. She wishes that more people could see that. However, she loves her job, and if doing her job means pretending to be something she's not, well, then, she'll at least fake a smile and bear it.

* * *

**What do y'all think?**


End file.
